What A Weirdo
by d1gitaldump
Summary: Reamy. Amy and Karma share a dorm in college. Reagan is the new girl in Amy's class. My summaries suck.
1. Butterflies Make Amy Uncomfortable

Amy glanced over at Karma's blanket covered body.

"Aren't you going to class?"

Karma pulled the blanket tight over her head. "I went a little overboard at the dorm party yesterday," she groaned.

"You've been doing that a lot lately. You haven't been to class in three days." Amy pointed out, pulling back the blanket and holding out a glass of water.

Karma sat up groggily, leaning heavily on the wall behind her before reaching for the water. "Exactly, so one more day won't hurt." Karma whispered before downing the entire glass in a few gulps.

"So…you're not coming then?" Amy asked already knowing the answer.

Karma shook her head in response and Amy sighed grabbing her backpack from her bed before closing the door behind her.

They had both changed a lot since Hester. Karma had eventually forgiven Amy and Liam but they were no longer as close as they once were. Liam and Karma did try to rekindle what they once had but the betrayal was too much for Karma and Liam decided that ultimately it would be better if he went to work with his dad full time. Amy and Karma had eventually muddled through and found themselves in a good place but they had split off into different paths. Karma had become very social, making new friends, drinking, attending parties. Amy had become withdrawn, focusing on computers, mathematics and science. They had always planned to go to the same college, but it was by pure coincidence that they ended up sharing a dorm. Life was funny like that.

* * *

Amy ducked into her next class, computer science. She shared a few polite exchanges with her fellow classmates before dropping her bag on the seat next to her, arranging her books and settling behind her computer waiting for Miss Pearson to begin the lesson.

Miss Pearson was one of those quirky teachers you would refer to as 'a cat lady'. Her go to outfit included clogs, a long brown skirt that swished around her ankles, and a red knitted jumper with the sleeves pushed up. She wore lime, thick rimmed, round glasses that sat on the edge of her nose, her hair was a short curly bob that would wobble whenever she moved her head and whenever she smiled she would reveal a row of crooked teeth. Karma found her creepy but Amy loved her, so did the rest of the class.

"Good morning class. Today we will be finishing off where we left off. So just pull up your program and-"

Everyone turned their attention to the creaking of the class room door and the unfamiliar girl stepping through it. Amy did a double take and her stomach flipped when she laid eyes on the girl swaying awkwardly in the front of the class. She wore all black clothing. A black hooded leather jacket, a black t-shirt, black jeans and black combat boots which were partially laced. She had olive skin and black hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail. Her large lips formed a natural pout, her dark almond shaped eyes scanned the room curiously - briefly landing on Amy before moving on.

"Am I correct in assuming you are Reagan?" Miss Pearson asked.

Reagan nodded, pursing her lips.

"Alrighty. Take a seat. I will give you an exercise to complete during this period. After class come to me and I will catch you up fully. Understood?"

Reagan stepped forward but hesitated when she realised there were no seats in sight.

Amy waved meekly to grab Reagan's attention and then pointed at the seat next to her to indicate that it was free. She removed her bag from the seat and rearranged her books so that they were not spilling over into the space next to her.

"Thanks," Reagan acknowledged, the smallest of smiles gracing her lips before she settled down and turned her attention to the computer in front of her. Butterflies erupted in Amy's stomach and she squirmed, uncomfortable with the sensation she hadn't felt in a long time.

Reagan didn't look or speak to Amy for the rest of the lesson but she did speak to Miss Pearson, that was when Amy realised the girl was blessed with the most distinct voice she had ever heard. It was raspy and rough but soft spoken at the same time, a weird juxtaposition but a voice Amy was enthralled by. Try as she might Amy didn't end up doing much of her work, which was very much out of character for her. Instead she spent most of the lesson stealing glances of Reagan's profile, watching the way Reagan frowned when she came across a difficult equation, the way her eyes vigorously scanned the equation numerous times before she made an attempt to solve it, the way her lips would pout a split second before they would curl into a smirk when she solved said equation. If Reagan noticed Amy boring holes into the side of her head she didn't show any hint of it.

Much too soon (for Amy) the lesson was over. She gathered her things excruciatingly slowly, taking the longest time to log out of her computer and put her books away. As the last few kids funnelled out of the door Amy stole a glance of Reagan who was now leaning on Miss Pearson's desk. When Reagan looked toward her Amy quickly looked toward the ground almost running into the door in the process. Laughing nervously Amy avoided looking at Reagan as she shuffled quickly out of the room.

Once she was out the classroom Amy leaned against the wall throwing her head toward the ceiling taking a few deep breathes to compose herself. This was the first time in a while that a girl had caused her to feel this nervous. Reagan hadn't said two words to her but yet Amy was intrigued. It was scary and exciting at the same time. It was exhilarating. A feeling Amy hadn't felt in a while.

Amy was too deep in her thoughts to notice the tell tale creaking of the classroom door and Reagan exiting the classroom.

"Woah, sorry." Reagan apologised as she crashed into the back of Amy.

Amy quickly spun around, "Oh don't worry it's fi-"

Reagan's brow creased in confusion as she was met with a rambling Amy.

"Erm I'm sorry I- I gotta go." Amy squeaked pushing past Reagan and walking quickly toward her dorm.

Reagan watched Amy's retreating figure with a bemused expression. _'What a weirdo.'_


	2. Reagan Confides In Clementine

"Is she 'cut your face if you reject her' weird or is she 'stalk you, skin you and wear you as a coat' weird?" Clementine asked while highlighting yet another section of the book she was reading.

"Neither. 'Just stare at me for the entire lesson and then blush like crazy when I look at her for a brief second' weird." Reagan replied while casually flicking her butterfly knife. This was a regular thing for her, sitting crossed legged on her bed spinning her knife while trying to figure something out. Something about the sound and movement always soothed Reagan, Clementine would beg to differ though.

"Please make sure that thing doesn't fly toward me," Clementine cringed using her book as a shield.

Reagan rolled her eyes playfully, continuing to flick her knife in a fluid motion. "Says the girl who gave me a black eye because she couldn't hold onto the wii remote."

"Hey! I apologised a thousands times for that!" Caroline pouted poking her head above her book, quickly regretting her decision when Reagan pretended to throw the knife in her direction. " _Please_ stop swinging that thing Rae. _Please._ _"_

"Okay, okay. Sorry." Reagan apologised closing her knife and switching it for the stress ball she kept on her bedside table. "So what should I do Clementine?…..Clem?"

Clementine had gone back to highlighting passages in her book now that she knew she was safe from the knife penetrating her flesh. But she definitely she wasn't safe from a soft ball hitting her in the head.

"Raaaaae," Clementine whined whipping the ball back in Reagan's direction. "I'm trying to cram in some last minute studying. Stop fucking trying to mess me up."

"Really? Because it looks like all you are doing is highlighting the _entire_ book."

Clementine bowed her head dramatically, "Do not question how a sensei works."

"Sorry _sensei,_ _"_ Reagan replied mockingly.

"You are forgiven. Now, what is it you seek?"

"The girl in my class, Amy. Should I ask her to stop being weird or what?"

Clementine shook her head. "No, that would just embarrass her. Stalk her."

Reagan gave a confused look.

"You know what I mean. Hack the school database and find out about her."

"No that is unethical and a betrayal of trust," Reagan replied adamantly.

"Oh…but it was okay for you to stalk me before we ended up being room mates?"

"Erm excuse me, that was a matter of life and death. I wanted to know who the college was going to stick me in a room with, you could have been some weird serial killer for all I know. I was just protecting myself." Reagan argued.

"Hacking into a school database to dig up dirt on me was going a bit far don't you think?"

"I had to cover all my bases."

"What did you find?"

"Nothing interesting, hence why we are rooming together right now."

"I'm interesting!" Clementine said in an offended tone.

Reagan shrugged tossing her ball into the air. Clementine _was_ interesting, but that was not what she had found out via the school database. Well there was the sealed juvie record but when Reagan had accessed it all she found was a warning for shop lifting at the age of 13. Nothing after that, just straight A's and heavy involvement in various after school activities. Reagan had theorised that it was her parents way of keeping her on the straight and narrow and to be fair it seemed to have worked. Or maybe Clementine just made sure not to get caught after that. Either way, there was no more reports on criminal activity.

Clementine herself was interesting looking. She was just over six feet tall, had long mousey brown hair which she wore with a centre part, wore thin wire rimmed glasses and she _always_ wore sundresses. A few weeks into living with each other Reagan had discovered that it was because she found it difficult to find jeans that fit her leg length so she ditched them completely and decided to just wear dresses. Not that Reagan was complaining, she knew a good pair of legs when she saw them but it was definitely an odd sight seeing the two of them walking down the hall way. Especially since Reagan barely reached Clementine's shoulder.

"I know that _now,_ but on paper you're pretty boring." Reagan shrugged tossing her ball into the air.

"Whatever. All I'm saying is that you should do the same thing to the girl in your class."

"Amy."

"Yes, Amy."

"That's a bit much don't you think?"

"Well do it on a smaller scale. Stalk her social media pages," Clementine suggested.

"I don't know…."

"Yes you do."

Reagan let out a frustrated breath at her complete lack of self control and pulled her laptop from underneath her bed. "I'm just going to look at her social media accounts and get a feel for what kind of person she is."

"Or alternatively you could _talk_ to her like a normal human being."

" _OR_ I could just continue doing what I'm doing and not listen to your rational suggestions?"

"It's your funeral," Clementine shrugged raising her hands in surrender.

"Do you want me to look into that guy that you like? What's his name?"

Before Reagan could blink Clementine had shot across the room and was now sitting beside her on the bed.

"His name is Francis," she said eagerly. "Francis Wilbur."

"Or alternatively you could _talk_ to him like a normal human being?" Reagan replied smugly while typing away on her laptop.

" _OR_ I could just continue doing what I'm doing and not listen to your rational suggestions," Clementine countered leaning over to get a better look at Reagan's screen. "Is that her? She's cute."

"I guess."

"You guess?" Clementine frowned. "Why are you even doing this if you are so indifferent about her?"

"I don't know. Honestly, she just intrigues me." Reagan admitted, leaning forward slightly as she read the words on her screen.

' _On November, 21st, 2013 at approximately 12:50pm_ _Amy Raudenfeld_ _struck Officer_ _…'_


	3. Karma Has A Theory

Karma groggily threw the blanket from her body, pushing her weary body to its feet.

"Going to class today?" Amy asked barely glancing up from her books.

"Yeah, I think it's about time."

"So do I." Amy muttered.

Karma shot Amy a glare while walking toward the bathroom, "No need to be snarky."

"I'm just saying you need to attend your classes if you actually want to graduate."

"Fair point," Karma called from the bathroom. "By the way, you wanna come to a frat party tonight?"

"No matter how many times you ask me Karma, the answer is always going to be no."

Karma peered around the edge of the bathroom door, "Why though?"

"I just don't see how hanging out with a bunch of sweaty frat boys and drunk sorority girls is fun. If I wanted to watch a train wreck I would watch reality TV." Amy scoffed.

"Wow. How very judgemental of you. It's not just sorority girls and frat guys. I'm not a sorority girl and I'm still going," Karma shrugged.

"Okay, you're not in a sorority but you might as well be. It would give you a legitimate excuse for your rebellious behaviour."

"It's not 'rebellious' Amy. It's called living the college experience. Maybe you should try it some time."

"No, thank you."

"Suit yourself. There's a bunch of cute guys for you to hook up with."

"I'm not interested in guys!"

Karma's head reappeared around the bathroom door.

"I meant frat guys. I'm not interested in frat guys." Amy corrected.

Ever since Hester, Amy had found it best to bury her sexuality. At first she had thought she was a lesbian, but then she slept with a guy and then after that she had hooked up with a girl at a carnival and during all of this she was in love with Karma. It was a confusing time to say the least. But by now Amy was 100% sure she was into girls and 100% not into letting Karma know that. To have Karma think that she was still secretly in love with her again? It was best to just keep her head down and get on with college. After this, she could do and be whoever she wanted.

"There is a guy there that I've been trying to hook up with, but I think he is interested in someone else. I've seen him eyeing up that new girl. The one with the long black hair? Unlaced boots? Always dresses in all black?"

Amy immediately straightened at the description of Reagan, "Oh…yeah. I think I've seen her around," she nodded trying to play it cool.

"I don't get what he sees in her? She just angrily stomps down the hallway with her freakishly tall roommate or should I say girlfriend." Karma complained.

"Girlfriend...?"

"Yeah, the new girl and her roommate...Tangerine. Or whatever her name is. I heard a rumour that they scissor each other."

"Rumours aren't facts Karma," Amy reminded.

"Have you _seen_ them? There is no way they aren't scissoring each other," Karma insisted. "I can only imagine how it would work though. They are literally little and large."

"Less gossip Karma and more getting ready for class," Amy said leaving her dorm unusually flustered.

* * *

Amy reached her locker she glanced down the hall way and spotted Reagan leaning against a locker that definitely wasn't hers - not that Amy had been keeping tabs or anything like that.

A moment later another girl joined her.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who the girl was. She girl towered over Reagan and gave her dark hair an affectionate ruffle. Reagan retaliated by poking the girl in the stomach until she was doubled over in laughter. That was until the taller girl grabbed Reagan and picked her up off the ground, spinning as she did so.

"Clementine stop!"

Amy smiled as she watched Reagan's legs pedalled furiously while she demanded that Clementine put her back down.

When Reagan's feet were firmly on the ground the girls both realised that they were being watched. Amy quickly turned away but in doing so slammed her head into her open locker, causing her to sprawl out onto the ground.

"Hey, are you alright?" a voice said from above Amy.

"I think so," Amy groaned, gingerly touching her forehead.

"You should go to the nurses office," Reagan suggested. "You might have a concussion or whatever."

"No, I'm okay. Really." Amy reassured getting to her feet.

"You know that someone who has a concussion may also have a brain bleed." Clementine said matter-of-factly.

"Okay, thank you Clem." Reagan said through gritted teeth.

"Just trying to help," Clementine shrugged.

"Ignore her. She is morbid sometimes." Reagan explained as she handed Amy her school bag from off the ground. "Anyway seeing as you're okay we're gonna get going. See you in class, weirdo."

"If she hasn't collapsed due to a brain bleed first!" Clementine reminded.

"Clem!? Honestly, I am _so_ sorry about her." Reagan apologised to Amy before grabbing Clementine by the hand and dragging her down the hallway.

"See, I told you." Karma piped up from behind Amy. "They are totally scissoring."


	4. Karma's Plan and Skipping Class

"So do you two know each other?" Karma asked leaning against Amy's locker.

"Who?" Amy asked trying to sound oblivious.

"You and the goth chick. You seem awfully familiar with each other."

"What makes you think that?" Amy scoffed leaning into her locker to pull out random books that she definitely didn't need.

"Well she said she would see you in class and then she called you a weirdo….so you clearly know each other enough for her to use pet names."

"'Weirdo' isn't a pet name and we hardly know each other." Amy interrupted.

"But she _is_ in your class…."

"Yes but that doesn't mean tha-"

"We can use to to our advantage," Karma said dreamily while tapping her chin.

"You mean _your_ advantage."

"Details, details." Karma dismissed. "The important thing is that we can use this to our advantage."

"Your advantage," Amy mumbled slamming her locker.

"Alright, so the guy I'm trying to hook up with? I want you to ask the goth chick about him."

"Her name is Reagan."

" _Reagan_ …..get some details about this guy from her."

"What sort of details? Things like his name perhaps?" Amy enquired.

"I know his name!" Karma said defensively. "Or I will when you ask your new friend about him."

Amy rolled her eyes and sighed. "We are not frie-. You know what. I'll see what I can do okay? But I'm not promising anything."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Karma squealed enveloping Amy in a bear hug.

Amy peered over Karma's shoulder just in time to see Clementine and Reagan being stopped at the bottom of the hallway by two boys. Her heart sank a little when one of the boys reached out for Reagan's hand and she allowed herself to be pulled out of sight.

"Okay, I'll see you later Karma." Amy sighed upon hearing the bell ring.

* * *

"Erm who are you and what the fuck are you doing?" Reagan hissed snatching back her hand.

"Calm down girl. We just wanted to talk," the stranger insisted. "I'm Jonah by the way."

Reagan frowned - hard. There was nothing she hated more than someone telling her to 'calm down'. Especially from someone as swarmy looking as this dude. He was everything you expected a frat boy to be. Salmon shorts paired with boat shoes. A dark coloured cardigan with the sleeves rolled up paired with a pastel shirt underneath it. Expensive accessories strategically on show. And last but not least the slicked blonde hair with the permanent smirk etched onto his face.

"We could have _talked_ where we stood. Why did you have to drag us out of sight?" Reagan demanded.

"We just wanted to talk without any prying ears," piped up the timid looking of the pair.

Now this guy was more Reagan's speed. Tailored and fitted. He wore light coloured trousers with brown tan boots. A tweed blazer paired with a baby pink shirt, patterned jumper and tweed bow tie. The entire outfit was completed with the leather satchel slung across his shoulder. He didn't have the swarmy frat boy hair do. Instead he had curly red hair that reached just above his ears and black thick rimmed glasses that he pushed up nervously every so often. To top it all off he was _taller_ than Clementine which put him around the 6'4 range.

"And you are?" Reagan asked.

"Francis," he replied extending his hand toward Reagan.

"Pleasure to meet you _Francis_ ," Reagan smiled, shooting a knowing look Clementine's way. Clementine pretended not to see it and went unusually weak in the knees when Francis offered her his hand.

"Anyway…." Jonah said averting his eyes from his friend and turning his attention back to Reagan. "Party tonight. You in?"

"I'm not really the party type."

"There will be beer and all the pizza you can manage to eat."

"I'm listening…"

"You should come."

Reagan glanced at Clementine who was now blushing and looking down on the ground. Francis was equally as red, hands gripping his satchel for dear life.

"Fine, I'm in." Reagan relented. "We're in. But if it sucks we're leaving."

"Fair enough." Jonah nodded. "So, can we get your names?"

"No and I'm gonna go now because you've already made us late for class. So I'll see you at the party I guess?"

"If you would do me the honour."

Reagan rolled her eyes subtly before turning her attention back to her friend. "You ready?"

Clementine nodded coyly eyes still on the ground.

"Okay, well I guess I'll see you later Clementine." Francis stammered.

When the pair were out of sight Reagan turned to her friend. "Well he is a bit of a looker isn't he? If I was so inclined I would be keeping tabs on him," Reagan mused.

"Wait…did he say my name? He knew my name!? Rae he knows my name!" Clementine whispered in excitement.

"Wow. Looks like you've _both_ been doing a little spying on each other. You guys looked adorable together by the way, even though you weren't doing much other than blushing furiously." Reagan smiled.

"Shut up." Clementine groaned giving Reagan's hair her signature ruffle.

Reagan checked her watch and sighed. "You know what. I don't think I'm gonna bother with class today. Wanna play hooky until the last bell? We can go on a lady date, get milkshakes and fries. My treat."

"You really know a way to a gals heart," Clementine mock swooned placing the back of her hand to her forehead. "I accept."

"Alright, let's get out of here."


	5. Amy Changes Her Mind

Ten minutes after the bell and Reagan still hadn't shown up to class. Amy found her eyes gravitating toward the classroom door every few seconds and felt a twang of disappointment any time the door remained closed. At some point someone did enter the classroom and butterflies fluttered in Amy's stomach, but it just turned out to be a lost kid wandering into the wrong class.

"Do you have any idea where Reagan is?" Miss Pearson asked settling down in the unoccupied seat beside Amy.

"Who?" Amy asked feigning ignorance.

"The new girl. Cat eyes. Wears all black."

"Oh. I'm actually not sure." Amy admitted, moving her mouse absentmindedly.

"Wow," Miss Pearson sighed leaning back in her chair. "She's already ditching class after just a couple of days? I'm not sure I want someone so unmotivated in my class. I don't stand for that kind of nonsense. You know that Amy."

"I know. Actually….I saw her. In the hallway. She smacked her head off her locker door and it looked really painful. I suggested she go to the nurses office and get it looked at."

"Good thinking Amy," Miss Pearson said tapping her pursed lips. "Whenever someone hits their head they are at risk of having a brain bleed." She turned toward Amy, "You know that happened to my cat Lemon. She's never been quite the same since."

"What happened to her," Amy asked nervously.

"Well she had a massive brain bleed, which in turn caused her to have a stroke. Now she is kind of wonky and needs help getting onto the couch, she has a constant drool going on, things like that."

"Oh."

"You know if you want to actually finish this project you need to do more than move your mouse around the same area. Maybe try clicking it once in a while?" Miss Pearson suggested before sliding out her chair and making her way back toward the front of the class.

Amy sidled closer to her computer monitor and got to work on attempting to finish her project, but she just couldn't shake something from her mind. She had lied for Reagan. Covered for her and fabricated a story. Well…half fabricated. All for a person she barely even knew. She shook her head trying to shake the thought from her mind. She didn't want to think about it and she didn't care to either. Not right now anyway. Right now she had something else on her mind.

Moving her cursor toward the internet icon Amy opened up a new window and typed a query into the search engine.

' _How do I know if I have a brain bleed?_ _'_

* * *

"You're lying!" Reagan laughed.

"I'm not! I swear! That's what they said!" Clementine insisted.

"They think we're hooking up!? That is so wild." Reagan scoffed cramming a handful of fries into her banana milkshake.

"Word for word this is what they said. 'That new goth girl is fucking her roommate. The fruit girl."

"How would that even work!? Like logistically I think it would be an immense struggle. Don't you think?"

"Hmmm. I don't know. I think we could make it work." Clementine winked.

"Wow and you wonder why people think we are a 'thing'." Reagan smirked while shaking her head.

"It's probably because I had a girlfriend before you came to campus." Clementine shrugged, peeling gherkin from her burger.

"Why don't you just order without the gherkin, instead of constantly just peeling it off."

"Beca-"

"Wait, wait, wait! You had a freaking girlfriend!? This is news to me!" Reagan spluttered.

"What, it didn't come up when you used your computer to snoop into my life?" Clementine asked smugly.

"No, it didn't. And I wasn't snooping actually, I was making sure you weren't a murderer." Reagan insisted folding her arms defensively.

"I'm just saying it's no surprise that people are linking us together."

"What was her name?"

"Lila."

"Cool."

"You're going to look her up aren't you."

"Nope."

"Alright, you said that a little too quickly for me to actually believe you. Plus you have a mischievous twinkle in your eye. Anyway I remove the gherkin because I don't like the texture, but I do like the taste. Which is why I don't ask them to remove it. I want the taste cooked into my burger, but I don't want the actual gherkin itself," Clementine explained.

"That is genius," Reagan hummed.

"Duh," Clementine scoffed. "Now let's discuss this party."

* * *

Amy sighed when she spotted Karma's face peer through the glass on her classroom door. It was obvious why she was there but Amy just didn't have the answers Karma was looking for. Reagan hadn't turned up to class and you can't tell someone something you don't know.

The bell rung and the students started slowly filtering out of the classroom. When she was almost out the door Miss Pearson pulled her aside causing Amy to panic slightly.

"Please give these to Reagan when you see her," Miss Pearson said handing Amy a bundle of work sheets. "She wasn't here to finish it today so she will just have to get it done over the weekend. Tell her I hope she feels better soon."

"I will," Amy nodded vehemently avoiding eye contact. "Have a good weekend Miss."

When Amy was out the classroom Karma practically jumped her.

"So. What did she say?"

"Oh, she asked me to give this work to Reagan beca-"

"No the goth girl. Why would you need to give her work? Weren't you just in class with her?"

"No. Actually sh-"

"What do you mean no!?"

"Well if you actually _allowed_ me to speak I would be able to tell you what happened," Amy spat annoyed at the intensity of the conversation.

"Sorry," Karma relented.

"She wasn't in class," Amy shrugged. "She was a no show."

"What, why!?"

Amy rolled her eyes heatedly. "Well if I knew that I wouldn't have been watching the door for the entire lesson would I!?"

"Shh shh they're coming!" Karma hissed.

Amy didn't have time to ask who Karma was talking about, because suddenly she was face to face with Reagan and Clementine.

"Heyyyyyyyy!" Karma said affectionately giving Reagan an over friendly hug as if they were old friends.

Reagan looked over Karma's shoulder and frowned at Amy while flexing her jaw. And if it didn't look like Reagan was about to kill Karma on the spot Amy would have found it incredibly attractive.

"Okayyy, enough of whatever it is you're doing." Amy muttered pulling Karma away from Reagan, making sure to keep a firm grip on her wrist.

"You know Reagan isn't really that affectionate. So you probably shouldn't do that again," Clementine warned.

Karma fell silent, her face contorting a little in fear when she saw Reagan's stoney, slightly confused glare.

"Here this is for you, it's classwork. Unfortunately you have to complete it over the weekend since you weren't in class today. Sorry." Amy said apologetically, shoving the few bits of paper into Reagan's hands.

"Thanks." Reagan replied her glare still fixed on Karma. "Do I know you?"

Karma shook her head vigorously.

"I'm pretty sure I've seen you around."

"Well, this is college. Of course we would see each other once in a while!" Karma laughed nervously.

"That's not what she meant," Clementine interrupted. "We've seen you spying on her. It's creepy."

"Spying? What do they mean spying? What do they mean Karma?" Amy asked, suddenly interested in what Karma had to say.

"I wasn't spying. I was…intrigued. That's all." Karma shrugged.

Clementine cocked her head curiously, "Why? Do you fancy her or something?"

Amy burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry-" she sighed trying to regain a little bit of composure. "It's just…if you knew Karma you would know that what you just said is utterly ridiculous."

"What are you saying? Am I not attractive enough?" Reagan asked with raised eyebrow.

"N- n- no, that's not what I meant. You're attractive enough. I jus- I just mean-."

"I was just kidding weirdo," Reagan smirked. "Well we have a party to get ready for, so I'll see you around?"

"Wait," Amy said quickly. "You're going to the party tonight?"

"Yeah, it's probably going to be shit but at least there will be beer and pizzas. You going?"

"I'll be there."

Karma glanced at Amy. "Really? Because earlier you sai-"

"I'll be there." Amy repeated.

Clementine noticed the sparkle in Amy's eyes as she looked at Reagan and the acknowledged the fact that Amy's cheeks were now several shades pinker than when they had first started talking. "Wow, I clearly accused the wrong person."

"Clem?"

"Nothing, we gotta go. Maybe we'll see you guys there? Let's go Rae."

When Reagan and Clementine were out of sight Karma turned toward Amy. "I thought you didn't want to hang out with 'sweaty frat boys and drunk sorority girls'?"

"That was before I was informed that there is going to be pizza and beer. Now are we going to get ready for this party or what?"


	6. Amy Is A Coward

"Tonight is going to be the night that I finally bag that dude," Karma insisted while applying yet another layer of lipgloss.

"Mm hm," Amy nodded inspecting the bruise which had slowly been appearing on the right side of her forehead.

"I can feel it," Karma continued. "I just have a good feeling."

"Sure Karms," Amy hummed adjusting and readjusting her hair to t ry and cover her forehead.

"What are you doing? You don't usually put this much time into your appearance. Do you have your eye on someone?"

"If you didn't notice I crashed head first into my locker earlier today, so I'm just trying to deal with the aftermath."

"Who is he?"

"What?"

"Who is he? Who are you getting all dressed up for? I haven't seen you put this much effort into your appearance for a while."

Amy looked down at her clothes, skinny jeans, a scoop back top and patent mary jane flats. Okay, so it was a step up from her usually baggy jeans and hoodie but Amy didn't necessarily think it was 'dressed up'.

"Who said it was a he?"

"She?" Karma asked turning quickly away from the mirror and toward Amy. "This isn't going to be like back in Hester is it?"

Amy frowned, "What do you mean?"

"The girl thing. The awkward tension between us. We were just getting back on track. You're not into girls anymore right? I mean you dated Oliver for the last six months of school."

Sure Amy dated Oliver. If by dating you mean 'entered a mutually fake relationship with Oliver to get over Karma and get her mother off her back'. It ended up being pretty fun, they went on awesome fake dates and they formed a pretty strong friendship which was still holding up while they were both in college.

"Psh. Of course I'm not into girls." Amy scoffed. "I'm over that and I'm _definitely_ over you. I'm just dressing up for myself. Have you ever heard of that? It's a thing."

"Nope. Never heard of it. Let's go."

* * *

"Isn't this great!" Karma grinned scanning the room for her prey.

"Yeah, love it! Great atmosphere, great music." Amy nodded, scanning the room for something else, someone else.

"He's coming!" Karma squealed latching onto Amy's arm.

"Who?"

"Hey ladies!," Jonah shouted handing them each a beer.

Amy snatched Karma's before she could bring it toward her lips. "We don't take drinks that have already been opened," she deadpanned.

"Fair play."

"Don't worry about her! She doesn't get out much!" Karma grinned.

Amy rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Where's the food?"

Jonah nodded to the pizza boxes piled in the corner of the room.

"Cool, see you guys later." Amy said wandering off to the only thing she felt was worth her time.

"Wanna dance?" Jonah asked extending his hand toward Karma.

"I'd love to," she smiled letting herself be pulled toward the dance area.

"You know, that's a waste of some perfectly good beer!," someone shouted at Amy causing her to startle and drop both bottles into the sink.

Amy spun around irritated, "Mind your own business!" she shouted at nothing and no one in particular.

"Over here!"

Amy tracked the voice over to a settee in the corner of the room which Reagan was occupying, pizza box in her lap, beer raised in the air to grab Amy's attention.

"Oh…hey! You're here! I was just looking for you! I mean…I know you said you'd be here so I was keeping an eye out for you!"

"It would probably be easier if you came over here, instead of us screaming at each other from across the room!?"

"Okay!"

Amy hovered where she stood, much to the amusement of Reagan.

"You've got to use your legs weirdo!"

"I know how to walk!" Amy shouted defensively. "I'm just….enjoying the atmosphere!"

"Yeah, looks like it!" Reagan laughed, shaking her head and taking a sip of her beer.

Amy immediately dropped the pretence and walked over to Reagan, who was laying across the settee, her legs crossed at the ankles.

"You look nice. How does it feel to be out the hoody and jeans?"

"Oh….thanks," Amy laughed nervously. She immediately felt self conscious after realising that Reagan was wearing the exact same thing she had been wearing earlier that day. Not that Amy cared. She just felt a little over dressed. "It feels…..strange."

"Yeah, I hear you. As you can see I haven't changed one item of clothing." Reagan gestured down the length of her body. "I find something I am comfortable in and just wear it until it falls off me, then replace it with exactly the same thing. Oh. You wanna sit down?" Reagan asked pulling in her feet before Amy had the chance to answer.

Amy perched on the edge of the settee, awkwardly watching as Reagan eyed Clementine who was sitting with a boy in other corner of the room.

"You jealous?" Amy joked trying to catch Reagan's attention.

The boy took a shaky hand and brushed some hair out of Clementine's face, causing Reagan to shoot up into a sitting position, her pizza box falling to the ground. She leaned forward taking another sip of her beer, watching intently until Clementine's face broke out into a shy smile. Amy watched as Reagan breathed a sigh of relief and then turned her head to face Amy.

"What?"

"I asked if you were jealous…"

"Jealous of what?" Reagan frowned.

"Your girlfriend hanging with that guy. It was just a dumb joke, don't worry about it," Amy sighed.

"Why would I be jealous? We're in an open relationship."

"Oh wow. I'm so sorry. I- I- didn't realise, I- I wouldn't have said anything if-"

Reagan smiled at Amy before nudging her lightly with her knee. "I was joking. It was just a dumb joke. She's not my girlfriend. Well, she's a girl that's my friend. But we aren't seeing each other if that's what you meant."

"Thank god."

"You sound relieved."

"What? No. No! I'm just….happy for you. You know….happy that she isn't cheating on you or whatever."

"Well when you're in an open relationship that doesn't count as cheating. It's only when someone forms an emotional connection that things become blurry." Reagan explained.

"And how exactly do you know this?" Amy asked curiously.

"I like to read."

"But why are you reading abo-"

"Hey Rae," Clementine interrupted. "We're gonna go and talk about physics, wanna hang I know parties aren't really your scene."

"Nah, I'm good. You guys have fun. Oh and Francis?" Reagan pulled him down so that she could whisper into his ear. Whatever she whispered seemed to have the desired effect because Amy watched as his facial expression turned from giddy to scared and slightly confused.

"Yes Ma'am."

"See you later Rae," Clementine chirped.

"So is 'physics' like a code for some sex thing or?" Amy enquired once the two had left.

"Not even," Reagan laughed. "They are _actually_ going to talk about psychics. Isn't that special?"

* * *

"You know, if you invite a girl to dance you should only have eyes for her," Karma said through gritted teeth as Jonah looked over at Reagan for what felt like the 100th time.

"I'm just keeping an eye on the party! I don't want my parents house to get thrashed, that's all!"

"So why do you keep looking into the corner of the room instead of the entire room?" Karma questioned.

"That's not true. I looked there like two times max!" Jonah insisted.

"More like two hundred times," Karma muttered.

Jonah smirked as something dawned on him. "Oh, you're jealous. That's what this is about isn't it?"

"Erm no. Far from it," Karma lied. "I just don't see why you're interested in someone who isn't even interested in guys."

"Says who?" Jonah asked, suddenly becoming more interested in Karma than he had been the entire dance.

"Are you blind?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look at how she dresses and look how she is all over my friend. You're the only one who can't see it!" Karma spat.

"Well to be fair it looks as if your friend is all over _her_ ," Jonah pointed out.

"No. You're mistaken. My friend is straight"

"Yeah," Jonah nodded unconvinced. "It totally looks like it," he added as he watched Amy whisper something into Reagan's ear that caused them both to stand up and head toward the sliding back doors.

* * *

"Are you okay? You seem chilly," Reagan commented, eyeing the goosebumps on Amy's back.

Amy didn't have the guts to tell Reagan the goosebumps had appeared when her hand unintentionally brushed the small of her back on the way outside.

"Oh, I'm fin-"

But Reagan had already removed her jacket and was putting onto Amy and carefully doing up the zipper.

"There," Reagan said, playfully pulling the hood over Amy's eyes. "How do you feel now?"

"Better," Amy confirmed. "Really good," she added genuinely. Although if she was being entirely honest with herself it had more to do with the way Reagan's black t-shirt was carefully rolled up at the sleeves to reveal the tattooed sleeve on her left arm. The way she wore her t-shirt in general really.

"God. Isn't this garden insane!?" Reagan exclaimed knocking Amy from her thoughts. "You could fit like 10 houses in here?"

"Hey, can we walk further down? The music is still too loud for my liking and there are too many people around." Amy grimaced. "Sorry."

"Sure. No problem. Let's go."

* * *

"What do you think those two are doing out there?" Jonah asked glancing every so often at the doors.

"You have a hot girl dancing on your jock right now. Why do you care even care what they're doing right now?" Karma asked.

"I don't."

"Good," Karma smirked spinning around and pressing her lips against Jonah's. "Let's take this upstairs."

"Nah, let's take this outside. There are a lot of strange people here, don't want them walking in on us."

"Oh. Doing nature in nature? I approve." Karma smirked dragging a very eager Jonah by the collar.

* * *

"So quick question…." Amy said breaking the comfortable silence that had settled around them.

"What is it?"

"Why do you call me always call me a weirdo?"

"Because you're a weirdo, weirdo." Reagan stopped in her tracks, "Or does it bother you? I can stop if you want."

"No. No. It doesn't bother me. I was just wondering. That's all." Amy said quickly.

"It's because the first day we met you were just acting kind of weird. Well that and I didn't know your name!" Reagan laughed.

"Do you know my name now?"

"Of course I do!"

"How?"

"Oh…I looked at one of your worksheets." Reagan lied. She figured that now probably wasn't the time to tell Amy that she had literally combed through her life with a fine toothed comb.

"Wait, what's that noise!?" Amy hissed.

"What noise?" Reagan asked calmly.

"There, did you hear it!? I do not want to die out here!"

"Oh, hey there buddy!" Reagan cooed dropping to her knees. When she stood back up she had a black cat cradled in her arms. "You're a noisy guy aren't you. Here is your killer."

"Well that's...really embarrassing."

"I'm gonna call you Husqvarna."

"Husqvarna?"

"It's a chainsaw brand. That's what you thought he was right? A crazed guy with a chainsaw?"

"Yeah…I guess I did."

"Isn't he cute!" Reagan smiled as he gently pawed at her loose hair. "I wonder if he belongs to anyone. He is really thin, I can actually count his ribs. I wonder if he would like some pizza." Reagan peeled her eyes away from Husqvarna and looked at Amy. "Can cats even eat pizza? I don't know, I've never had a pet before."

Amy didn't know if it was the contrast between a tough looking girl cradling a cat, or the sincerity in Reagan's eyes as she asked for advice but Amy felt herself drifting toward her.

"I mean I guess I could buy some cat food on the way back but he must be starv-"

Reagan was cut off by Amy's lips pressing against hers, the force of the kiss crashing her against a nearby tree. Amy pulled back a little to gauge Reagan's reaction, which was wide eyes and raised eyebrows. But she decided lean back in for the kiss. This time Reagan dodged it.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"No, it's not that. It's just that you're squashing Husqvarna!," she gasped as a weak meow escaped his lips.

"Oh my god…I fucking knew it!" A familiar voice screamed.

Amy leapt out away from Reagan as if she were on fire.

"Karma! What are the heck are you doing here? And why do _you_ have lip gloss all over your face?" Amy asked turning her attention to Jonah.

"Don't worry about that!" Karma insisted waving her hands dismissively. "What did I tell you!? I told you she was into girls!" Karma said excitedly.

"Karma how many times do I have to tell you I'm not into girls! It was just a silly phase!"

"Actually she wasn't talking about you. She was talking about her." Jonah nodded toward Reagan, who was understandably wearing a hurt look on her face.

"f _uck_ , _Fuck, FUCK!_ _"_ Amy screamed at herself internally.

"What are you doing bringing my best friend out here all alone? Luring her away so that you can take advantage of her? Is that what you do? Don't you have a girlfriend already? Where is she? I wonder what she'd have to say about this."

"Karma shut up!" Amy hissed.

"Why are you defending that weirdo!? You barely know her!"

Reagan swallowed uncomfortably her eyes darting between Karma, Jonah and Amy. She took note of the desperation shining in Amy's eyes.

"Erm, you're right. Kind of. Clementine isn't my girlfriend. But I did lure your friend out here and made a move on her. I thought she was into me and it was a dick move," Amy cringed at this. "I'm sorry."

"So…you're not into guys then?" Jonah asked.

"If only life were so easy," Reagan smiled sadly. "Okay, I'm gonna go now."

"I think that's for the best." Karma said coldly.

Reagan took a step toward Amy and Amy held her breathe as Reagan unzipped the pocket on her jacket and removed her keys.

"I'm sorry." Amy whispered.

"It's kind of chilly out here. Just give my jacket back to me when you see me okay? See you around Amy."

Amy recoiled at the use of her actual name instead of the nickname that she had grown used to. And for some reason it felt like a punch in the gut.

Reagan bent down and scooped up Husqvarna who was playing with her untied laces.

"Is he yours?" She asked showing the cat to Jonah.

"Yeah."

"He is in bad shape. You're a shit pet owner. I'm taking him. He's mine now."

"Okay, fine." Jonah shrugged. "Can I walk you to your car or something?"

"Sure, why not. Thanks dude."

Guilt tore through Amy's gut as Reagan disappeared into the house and out of sight.

"Wow. Are you kidding me!?" Karma hissed. "She is into girls and he is _still_ clearly into her! Unbelievable."


	7. Lecture

' _How the fuck am I late!?_ ' Amy asked herself as she sprinted down the school corridors. ' _I wouldn_ ' _t be so late if they hadn_ ' _t moved the class to the damn lecture hall_ ' _,_ she muttered climbing up the stairs two at a time. But still she only had herself to blame. She had spent the whole weekend replaying the events of the party over and over again in her head, barely getting any sleep and exhausting herself in the process. Now she was late for class, which had annoyingly been moved to the other end of the school.

The door to the auditorium creaked as Amy edged it open, she cringed as a few heads turned to look at her. The place was absolutely crammed with other classes who were keen on seeing this lecture. Amy had absolutely no idea who was even speaking, all she knew was that the note on the classroom door said that the lecture was 'absolutely mandatory'. The good news was that the speaker hadn't turned up yet, so she wasn't interrupting anything.

"We're down here!" Miss Pearson hissed waving toward the front of the auditorium.

Slightly embarrassed Amy slinked down the aisle toward where her class was sitting, immediately spotting a dark head of familiar hair. Much to her dismay the only free seat was right next to it.

"Hey could you…please." Amy mumbled pointing to Reagan's bag which was occupying the seat.

Wordlessly Reagan removed her bag before eyeing the blondes dishevelled state and dark eye circles. "Long weekend?"

"You could say that, yeah." Amy sighed pushing back her hair and leaning back in her seat. "What's up with your hair?" she added suddenly noticing the braid cascading over Reagan's shoulder.

"Oh," Reagan shrugged, grabbing her hair instinctively.

"Hey. I didn't mean anything by it," Amy insisted. "It's just…."

"Out of character. Yeah I know."

"Speaking of out of character…."Amy started nervously. "I think I owe you an apology."

"If this is what I think it's about then you really don't have to."

"But I do," Amy insisted. "I have no idea why I kissed you. I don't know why I did it. It's not something I usually do. I was…drunk." Amy lied.

"Thanks?"

"No n- I didn't mean it like that! I just mean I'm not like _that._ Like you."

Reagan raised an eyebrow at this.

"Oh god. I know how that sounds but I'm not homophobic! My best friend is gay an-"

"Can I ask you a question? Reagan interrupted.

"Yeah...?"

"I'm just wondering how much further you're gonna dig this hole?"

"Yeah. You've kind of dug your grave twice already," a voice piped up from behind them. "

Amy and Reagan spun around to find out who had been intruding on their conversation.

"Hey moody." The girl said reaching out to play with Reagan's braid.

"Aspen. Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to eavesdrop?" Reagan asked while repeatedly batting the hand away from her hair.

"Sure they have. But I'm not a good listener, you know that." Aspen smirked, holding eye contact with Reagan a little longer than Amy deemed necessary.

Aspen was olive skinned and had a head of pink hair which was cut short and extremely wavy. Bright blue eyes pierced through her fringe which was just a little too long and a dusting of freckles covered her nose. Her teeth were vampiresque, two perfect fangs protruding as she smiled.

"What do you need?"

"If you needed someone to scratch your back you should have called me." Aspen commented, brushing her fingers against Reagan's bare neck and shoulder where a series of scratches resided.

Amy's skin burned as she watched Aspen's fingers dance delicately on Reagan's skin.

"I have a kitten now and he thinks he is a parrot," Reagan said swatting Aspen's hand away. "So get your mind out of the gutter."

"Never."

"What do you want Aspen?" Reagan sighed.

"Can I use your notebook?" Aspen cooed, fluttering her eyelashes. "I woke up this morning and my battery was dead."

"Let me guess. You slept with your laptop open, _again._ " Reagan guessed reaching into her bag. "Here you go."

"You know me so well." Aspen sighed. "Can I be cheeky and borrow this for the rest of the day?"

"Sure. Just bring it to my dorm when you're done."

"Yes ma'am." Aspen saluted. "I can't believe that Sandra Ohman is going to give us a lecture. How fucking insane is this? Like if someone told me that I had to kill you to get into this lecture I would do it no hesitation. No offence."

"None taken, the feeling is very much mutual."

"I love it when we're on the same page," Aspen purred before tucking some loose hairs behind Reagan's ear. "Digging the hair by the way."

Reagan made a show of rolling her eyes and acting annoyed until Aspen had left to go and join her class, but Amy noticed that her heart wasn't in it.

"What are you looking at?" Reagan asked as she felt Amy's eyes burning in her.

"Nothing."

Amy felt sick to her stomach. She had absolutely no idea why she had lied to Reagan. Telling her that being drunk was the reason she kissed her? Why? There was absolutely no reason to make up that lie and yet she had. And then she had made everything one hundred times worse by telling Reagan she wasn't 'like her'. Aspen was right, she had buried herself twice already possibly more than that. And who the heck was this Aspen girl anyway? And why did she and Reagan seem so familiar with each other? And why did the hell did Amy feel like she had a right to be jealous?

"Fucking hell," Amy groaned outwardly instead of inwardly like she had planned.

"What's up?"

"I'm just really sorry," Amy mumbled. "I know you don't want to talk about it, but I am."

"Look. It's fine. Really, I'm over it."

Amy felt like she had been sucker punched in the gut.

Reagan continued, "You're not into girls. It's really not a big deal. You were drunk and made a mistake. Stop kicking yourself over it. Just…don't do it again okay."

 _'I'm can't promise that,' Amy said to herself._

"Deal," is what Amy said out loud. And judging by the tightening in her stomach she knew it was another decision she would later on regret.


	8. It's All In The Wrist

Twenty minutes into the lecture and Amy couldn't even remember the speakers name let alone what she was talking about because Amy was too busy looking, or rather staring at Reagan. She was fascinated by the loose wavy hairs that spread across Reagan's forehead down to her ear. She was fascinated by the way Reagan grinded her jaw when she was listening intently. She was fascinated by the little smirk Reagan did whenever she heard something that really resonated with her. And Amy was definitely fascinated by the twinkle in Reagan's eye as she drank in the information being fed to her.

Reagan lolled her head in Amy's direction causing Amy to immediately avert her attention toward the stage.

"You know you're supposed to be watching the lecture and not me right?" Reagan spoke in a hushed voice.

"Psh! I'm not looking at you, I'm looking past you! I'm looking for Karma." Amy replied defensively.

"Sure," Reagan nodded completely unconvinced. "Well this lecture is mandatory. So maybe you should stop looking past me and pay attention to the lecture." Reagan suggested turning her attention back to the front.

"Alright," Amy nodded looking at the stage for all of ten seconds before her eyes drifted back toward Reagan. But this time Reagan was prepared and looking directly at her, clearly pleased that she had caught Amy out.

"Looking past me huh?" Reagan smirked, eyeing Amy's now beetroot red face.

"I er- I gott- I gotta go to the bathroom." Amy stammered launching herself out of her seat. "Be right back."

* * *

Amy splashed her still reddening face with cold water, the heat eventually dying down and allowing her to concentrate. That lasted all of two seconds before the bathroom door swung open and almost knocked her to the ground.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't think you would be right behind the door," she apologised eyeing Amy's red sodden face. "Wait, are okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Amy waved. "Just trying to wake myself up, that's all."

"Okay, well, I just came to apologise. So."

Amy was clearly taken aback by this because Reagan felt the need to clarify exactly what she meant.

"For embarrassing you. I came to apologise for embarrassing you."

"Wha exactly are you apologising for…?"

"I don't know. I just feel kind of bad, you know. You literally shot out of your seat after turning bright red. I just don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or anything like that. So, I'm sorry."

"Why are you so fucking nice?" Amy whispered.

"Huh?"

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Amy repeated a little louder this time.

"Why wouldn't I be nice to you! You haven't done anything to hurt me….or is there something you're not telling me?"

"Wh- What? What do you mean? There is nothing to tell! I-"

"Woah, calm down I was kidding!" Reagan said, firmly grabbing Amy's arm to try and steady her. "Oh. You really don't look too good."

Amy shrugged violently out of Reagan's grip and bolted into the nearest stall, hot bile filling her throat at an alarming pace. She hardly ever threw up. Only in cases of extreme nerves. The last time she threw up she was 11 years old and had to give a presentation on bees in front of her class. And now here she was throwing up in front of the girl she had a raging crush on.

Reagan walked into the stall and crouched down beside Amy. "Wow. My jokes are that bad huh?"

The blonde attempted a laugh but ended up retching instead.

"Shhh just breathe," Reagan instructed pulling back Amy's hair with one hand and gently rubbing her back with the other.

Amy's body relaxed as she slumped over the toilet bowl and closed her eyes. This was not quite the way she had envisioned things to be. The setting and circumstance were entirely different but she didn't exactly hate what was happening right now.

"Better?"

"A little."

Reagan pulled Amy away from the toilet and propped her up against the stall wall. Silently she took Amy's wrist and applied pressure with her thumb and fingers.

"What are you doing?" Amy asked nervously. "I'm probably going to throw up on you if I don't get my head back in there."

Reagan said nothing. Just waited a moment until she saw relief flood over Amy's face.

"Wait. Why do I suddenly feel so much better?" Amy gasped in surprise.

"Acupressure. I used to be nauseous all the time as a kid." Reagan admitted. "A ball of anxiety just constantly throwing up. I didn't like taking the pills so my doctor taught me this trick. Pretty cool right?"

"Yeah...really cool." Amy muttered realising just how small the stall was and how Reagan was pretty much on top of her.

"You know who you like right now? That girl from the ring," Reagan laughed noticing Amy's hair. "Here," she pushed Amy's crazy hair out of her face with her free hand and carefully tucked it behind her ears. "Now you look like an upstanding member of society."

"Thanks..."

"What?" Reagan scoffed noticing that Amy was staring at her the same way she had done back in the auditorium.

"Nothing."

"Ohhh. Are you looking past me again?" Reagan smiled playfully.

"Very funny," Amy whispered, eyes still on the dark haired girl.

"But seriously. Do I have something on my face?"

"No, your face is fine."

"Then wh-"

The squeaking of the bathroom door interrupted the girls and Amy scrambled to her feet, shrugging Reagan from her grip and holding her breath as she heard someone occupy the vacant stall beside them.

"We should probably head back," Amy suggested quickly. "The lecture is mandatory right?"

"Amy you're giving me serious whiplash," Reagan complained climbing to her feet.

"We've missed enough already. We should really go." Amy insisted, sprinting out of the bathroom, desperately clutching at her wrist.


	9. Reagan Wants Answers

"What the hell?" Reagan muttered to herself as she returned to her seat. Amy had snatched her things and moved to a seat much further away from her. She discreetly sniffed her armpits and determined that she didn't smell offensive so for the life of her she couldn't figure out what Amy's deal was.

Amy kept her eyes firmly to the front, ignoring the glare that was being given to her and eventually Reagan's eyes drifted back toward the lecture. Amy breathed a sigh of relief feeling the pressure lift from her chest - at least momentarily, because she was sure it would be back ten times as worse at some point.

The tables had turned. This time it was Reagan who was staring at Amy for the rest of the lecture - probably trying to figure out what the fuck was happening - no - definitely trying to figure out what the fuck was happening.

This was not the plan. The plan for college was to keep her head down and get it over and done with. No drama, no relationships and definitely no crushes on girls who look mean, dress in all black but have a good heart. She struggled with same sex attraction - yes 'same sex attraction' because Amy would not admit to herself that she was a lesbian. She admitted to herself that she liked girls but she buried everything else to-do with that fact, including labels. Amy highly suspected that it had something to do with Karma. College was supposed to be 'a fresh start' and that apparently included erasing her sexuality. So here she was messing with this amazing girls head simply because she couldn't let go of her college fantasy.

The lecture ended and the auditorium burst into applause, after the applause had petered out hundreds of students started making their way toward the exit. Amy deliberately took the longest route so that she would get lost in the crowd. When she spotted Reagan, Reagan wasn't searching for her, instead she was wrapped up in Aspen who was beside her speaking animatedly - presumably about the lecture because Aspen had been one of the first people to ask questions as soon as it was allowed.

When Amy exited the hall she was relieved to find out Reagan was nowhere to be seen but Karma definitely was. And predictably she was lip locked with Jonah, blocking everyone's path and generally being annoying. Kind of an apt description for Karma right now.

While rolling her eyes Amy pried their faces apart. "Sorry to interrupt the tongue fest but I need to speak to my best friend. So...go away please."

"See you later babe," Jonah smirked slapping Karma's ass as he slid past.

"Do I even wanna ask?"

"We're dating."

"Oh, is that what you call it?" Amy replied unconvinced. Karma had a habit of jumping to conclusions and Amy was almost certain that dating had not been discussed - if it had she would not have heard the last of it.

"So what was so important that you had to interrupt us?" Karma asked, annoyed and flustered.

Amy shifted awkwardly, squeezing her eyes closed and forcing down her disgust as she tried to find the words.

"Amy!?"

"You know the guy you won't stop going on about? The one you want to so desperately want to set me up with?"

"James?"

"Yeah him. I'm finally ready to start dating, so….make it happen."

"Waitttt...what changed your mind?" Karma frowned suspiciously. It seemed odd that after months of flat out rejecting her offer, Amy was suddenly interested. Very interested.

"Nothing," Amy replied defensively. "Can't a girl change her mind?"

"Of course you can, it just seems weird that you are suddenly so gung-ho about this."

"Karma please just make this happen for me," Amy pleaded desperately as she caught a glimpse of Reagan heading to her next class. "Asap."

* * *

Reagan sighed internally as she watched Amy actively avoid her for what felt like the hundredth time that week. Ever since the bathroom incident Amy had been so obviously avoiding her and keeping any interaction to a few words or less.

"She being weird again?" Clementine asked noticing Reagan's frustration.

"Yeah... It's not like I care or anything but it's been almost a month of this nonsense. I just want to know what I did wrong. I hate not knowing things."

"That's what I like about you." Clementine chirped. "You have a thirst for knowledge that is greater than mine. I would date you so frickin' hard if I wasn't a slave to awkward boys with thin limbs."

"Thanks Clem."

"But then again you are pretty androgynous when you feel like it, so maybe it could work between us? I could probably swing it. Maybe if me and Francis break up we can give it a shot."

Reagan let out a small chuckle. "So I'm your backup plan?"

"Ah, come on. You're number one always. You know that." Clementine cooed. "So, are you gonna eat that brownie?"

"Oh. You're just buttering me up for my brownie. I see how it is." Reagan laughed. "Yeah, take it. You're drool is practically all over it anyway."

"Oh my god. Thank you." Clementine squealed shoving the entire block into her mouth.

"A threesome? Don't mind if I do!," Aspen grinned sliding in beside Reagan and draping her arm lazily across her shoulder. "What's up Cee?

Clementine nodded vigorously pointing to her still full mouth.

"She's eating my brownie," Reagan explained.

"Ow! I thought I was the only one doing that." Aspen teased with a mock pout, which in turn caused Reagan to almost choke on her own spit.

"For god's sake Aspen," Reagan groaned. "Tell the whole canteen why don't you."

"I would. But I'm not one to brag."

"Oh how noble of you," Reagan droned sarcastically.

"Do you know you get kind of rude when you're embarrassed? Not a big deal but it's something to consider," Aspen pointed out.

Reagan raised an eyebrow, flicked through her mental rolodex and realised that Aspen was in fact correct, but said nothing.

"Hey Francis," Clementine grinned patting the seat beside her. "What took you?"

"Sorry!" he replied in a ragged sigh, pulling an inhaler from his bag and speaking between puffs. "I...was..working on a project...and lost...track of time."

Clementine reached into her bag and pulled out a crisp brown bag handing it to Francis. He took it gratefully and took long drawn out deep breaths into the bag, eventually calming down. When he was done Francis folded the bag and handed it back to Clementine looking a little sheepish.

"You okay?" she asked lacing her fingers between his.

Francis nodded wordlessly still feeling a little embarrassed about having an asthma attack in front of the entire canteen - even though no one even batted an eyelid.

"You guys are so fucking adorable," Aspen grinned giving Reagan's shoulder an unintentional squeeze in her giddy state.

"Er, thank you. So are you two. If you don't mind me saying."

"Psh. We aren't together. Does it look like we're together?" Reagan accused.

"Well, I mean...kind of...yeah." Francis bumbled.

"Me and her? She wishes. Never. Not in a million years!"

"Oh, sorry...I didn't mean to offend."

"I want more brownies, do you think they have any left?" Clementine mused completely oblivious to the change in atmosphere.

"Great idea! We should go and look, be right back" Francis said, quickly pulling Clementine to her feet and pushing her toward the serving area, desperate to get out of the awkward situation he had created.

"Okay, that was kind of hurtful and unnecessary" Aspen admitted withdrawing her arm from Reagan's shoulder.

"Fuck! I did it again didn't I?" Reagan sighed dropping her head into her hands. "I didn't mean that. I'm just…..ugh...I think you might be right...about what you said earlier. About me getting weird when I'm embarrassed. I'm sorry."

"That's okay. You can make it up to me later."

"You're just doing it on purpose now."

* * *

Amy stared across the canteen for what felt like the fiftieth time in the last five minutes, she deliberately made sure she was situated far enough away that Reagan wouldn't be able to feel the intensity of her stare. And clearly it was working because Reagan had only looked at her once since she entered the canteen - which kind of made Amy upset? A few weeks ago Reagan would have spent most of her time throwing her confused glances and now as time went on she barely glanced her way. And Amy knew that she had no right to feel upset about it, how could she? She was the one who was actively avoiding Reagan and keeping contact to minimum. So how dare she have the nerve to feel a burning in her stomach when she saw the way Aspen had her arm draped across Reagan's shoulder? How dare she feel jealous of Clementine because Reagan willingly gave her the best thing on the school's food menu? How dare she feel anything at about the things Reagan was doing? It should be none of her concern. It _was_ none of her concern.

"Earth to Amy?...Amy!" Karma sang slamming the table to get her attention.

"Hm? What?"

"Double date. Me and Jonah. You and James." Karma repeated drawing a square between the four of them.

"Yeah, what do you think?" a voice piped up beside her.

Amy turned her head slightly to the left and it suddenly occurred to her that she had _completely_ forgotten that James had been sitting next to her the _entire_ time.

James was nice enough, he was polite, understanding and most of all patient. But he just didn't get it. He didn't notice the way that Amy slightly recoiled when he touched her too softly. Or that when they were 'making out' he was the only one doing the kissing. The only thing Amy was fine with was when he held her hand, she was pretty neutral about that. His hands were too big and a little too rough but it was fine overall. To Amy this whole 'relationship' felt like the mutual one she had entered with Oliver in high school but only this time they weren't on the same page, someone didn't get the memo. And why would he? Amy hadn't exactly opened up to James and had no intention to. The goal was to just appear as 'normal' as possible. Whatever that meant anyway.

"Babe?"

"Yeah?"

"We were thinking about that local diner down the road." James explained. "It's close enough and pretty cheap. You in?"

"Oh yeah. We should totally do that. Sounds like fun."

"Cool," Jonah declared. "I'm just gonna go ask Francis if he wants to come with. And...Reagan and her friend?"

"You don't have to do that," Karma scoffed.

"Yeah, you really don't." Amy agreed, her palms becoming increasingly moist as she panicked slightly. "I'm sure she has other things going on."

"Well how will we know without asking her?" Jonah argued. "I'll be back in a second."

Amy watched anxiously as Jonah approached the table. It was weird, she was hoping that Reagan would reject his invitation but at the same time secretly wanted her to come along. It was making her head hurt and Amy saw it as the perfect opportunity to get the hell out of dodge.

"I'm getting a bit of a headache. I'm gonna go and have a nap before it gets any worse. I'll catch up with you later okay?" Amy apologised placing a chaste kiss to James' cheek before practically running out the door.

* * *

"Yo Francis. We're all going to the diner after class. Kind of a double date thing. You wanna come with?...And you guys as well. If you want." Jonah added shrugging toward Reagan and Aspen.

"Oh, we're not dat-"

Aspen cut Reagan off before she could finish, "Are you paying?"

"Sure."

"Then I'm in, with or without her." Aspen decided. "I don't mind being the eighth wheel or whatever."

"Francis?"

"We'll be there. I mean, if you wanna go," he clarified turning to Clementine. "You wanna go?"

"The day I turn down free food is the day I am dead in my coffin. You in Rae?"

"Okay, sure why not. " Reagan shrugged. You gotta be a psychopath to turn down free food right?"

"Alright then!" Jonah clapped, "Foods on me. See you guys after classes."

Reagan glanced across the canteen and noticed the obvious absence of a certain someone. She wasn't sure when Amy had left, infact she had no idea that she had left at all. Did she leave before the diner discussion or afterwards? Was she coming along or staying behind? All Reagan knew was that this was probably her one shot to get Amy alone and figure out what she had done wrong. It didn't matter what the answer was. All that mattered was she would finally get peace of mind.


	10. Cracked Mirror

Amy's heart sank as the bell rang indicating the end of class. There was no escaping it, there was no escaping _her._ Unless….

No.

Any chance of escaping to her dorm was hindered by the fact that James was waiting outside her class. It was a cute thing he did. Or it would have been if it wasn't such a thorn in Amy's side. Like when she wanted to be alone and he insisted on walking her everywhere, or right now for instance when she wanted to sneak off to her dorm but he was literally blocking her path.

"Hey babe, ready to eat?"

"You know what. I need to grab something from my dorm. So. I'll catch up with you?"

"I'll come wit-"

"No. It's personal. _Girls_ stuff."

"Oh...okay. I guess I'll see you there then."

Amy breathed a sigh of relief as James placed a kiss on her cheek and left. She always breathed a sigh of relief when he left.

With her head down Amy powered toward her dorm room, making sure not to stop or slow down for anyone or anything, making sure to take the long way to the dorm incase of being spotted. All was going well, Amy was about to make it through the door - until the door almost hit her in the face.

"Amy!? What are you doing, we're going to be late!" Karma huffed.

"I er- I came to get my...sunglasses. What are you doi-"

Amy's question was answered when she spotted Jonah around the corner of the door hastily buttoning up his jeans.

"Ew."

"What? Don't like what you see?" Jonah smirked. "Here, I think these are what you're looking for."

Amy cringed as he tossed her sunglasses over to her. She had no idea where his hands had been and now he had taken away her excuse for staying behind in her dorm.

"Aimes come on! We are going to be late!"

"Yeah well maybe if you weren't busy doing….whatever it was you were doing we wouldn't need to rush. Would we?"

"Can we just go please!" Karma sighed tugging a reluctant Amy down the hallway.

* * *

"Is this for you, or are you ordering for everyone else as well?" Reagan asked as plates of food kept making their way to the table.

"Listen, if someone is going to buy you food. You take advantage of it. Simple as that." Aspen said as she rearranged the food in front of her.

"There's taking advantage and then there is taking the piss."

"Reagan complaining about food?" Aspen mock gasped. "That's a literal first."

"Har Har. Very funny."

Clementine noticed that something wasn't quite right with Reagan. Aspen was right, Reagan _never_ complained about food. And overall she didn't look that thrilled to be here. It had been this way for a few weeks if Clementine was being honest with herself. "You alright Rae?"

"Yeah I'm good. Just need to go bathroom. Make sure no one takes my seat?"

"You got it."

* * *

Reagan ran the cold tap and slumped over the sink. Clementine and Aspen were right, she was _off_ , even though they hadn't said it directly it was implied and rightly so. Nervousness wasn't an emotion that Reagan usually expressed but she was _really_ feeling it right now. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Amy hadn't made it abundantly clear that she was avoiding her. That was the problem really, the avoidance. Contrary to popular belief Reagan did actually care what people thought of her. Well not really, she just didn't like people thinking she was a bad person. And she _definitely_ hated not knowing things. So this whole Amy debacle was an absolute nightmare. Reagan splashed her face with the cold water, hoping to shock the nervousness out of her system - it didn't help much. Sighing again Reagan returned back to her slumping position over the sink, it wasn't as if the food was going to run out - not at the rate Aspen was ordering it anyway. A few minutes more wouldn't hurt.

* * *

Amy breathed a sigh of relief when she entered the diner. Reagan's friends were here, but she was not. So far so good.

"Wow, you've already ordered for us? That's nice!" Jonah grinned as he took a seat.

"What? No!" Aspen growled. "This is for me!"

"Oh really? I love a girl with a healthy appetite." Jonah smirked as he watched Aspen take a large bite of her cheeseburger.

"What are you a feeder?" Aspen mumbled. "Fuck off dude."

"Wow. What a catch." Amy deadpanned while deliberately looking at Karma.

"Boys will be boys. If you had a boyfriend you would know that."

"I'm going to the bathroom. Maybe when I get back you will have grown a back bone?"

"She's right you know," Aspen nodded at Amy's retreating figure. "You guys appear to be dating but yet he is clearly flirting with me and is interested in my mate Reagan. Dump him."

"Err hello...I'm right here."

Aspen shrugged while taking a large slurp of her banana milkshake. "So?"

* * *

The door flew open with such force Reagan was almost certain her head would have been severed if she standing a few inches closer.

"Dejavu much," Reagan remarked as Amy stepped into the bathroom.

Amy's heart sank as she laid eyes on Reagan. All those weeks of careful avoidance were all a waste of time because here they were alone - _again._ And there was no way Amy wanted to be alone with Reagan right now, at anytime really because Amy was absolutely terrified of what would happen, what _she_ would do.

"What are _you_ doing in here?" Amy hissed.

"Oh, I thought I'd do a little studying, take a nap. You?"

"I'm serious!"

"Using the fucking bathroom Amy. What else?"

Amy recoiled a little at Reagan's use of her name. She still couldn't get used to it. Especially since it was coated with a what seemed like a tinge of anger.

"Were you waiting for me? Is that why you're in here?"

"You really need to get over yourself. You know that?"

"What!?" Amy scoffed folding her arms defensively across her chest. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you need to get over yourself! How much simpler can I put it? Grow some balls and tell me what I did wrong!"

"Huh?"

Reagan sighed, rubbing her face to calm herself down and compose herself.

"Look, I just want to know what I did wrong. That's all. Ever since that day at the lecture you have been really weird with me. Avoiding me. Refusing to speak more than a couple of words to me. What gives?"

Amy hung her head guiltily, unable to look Reagan in the eye.

"Is it something I've done? _Please_ tell me so I can stop worrying about it. It's giving me a serious migraine."

"No," Amy sighed. "It's not you okay. It's...me."

"Ugh."

"I know, I know. It's _cliché,_ but it's the god's honest truth."

Well partly. In a way it _was_ Reagan's fault - not that Amy was going to tell her that. Amy wasn't going to tell her how she thought about her pretty much _all_ of the time. Or how her heart would flutter whenever she caught a glimpse of her. Or how she really _really_ wanted to kiss her right now.

"Well this is really….anti-climactic." Reagan admitted. "Really underwhelming actually."

"Sorry I couldn't make it more exciting for you."

"Are you sure that's all? Hate to push this but it feels as if there is something else you are burying. Do you want to elaborate? It's okay if you don't."

"I'd rather not."

"That's okay," Reagan nodded. "Woo. What a relief."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great. I feel like a giant weight has been lifted off my chest you know? Like I can finally breathe. I know it sounds a little dramatic….that's because it is." Reagan acknowledged. "But still. Alright. I'm gonna go grab some food before Aspen eats it all."

"See you out there," Amy smiled.

Amy breathed a heavy sigh once Reagan had left. Fanning her face to try and calm herself down. She was jealous. The way Reagan was feeling right now was exactly the way _she_ wanted to feel. She wanted to finally feel like she could breathe, like she didn't have to be walking on egg shells, like her chest wasn't being constricted when she thought about how much she loved and wanted to be with girls. But she was scared. Absolutely terrified. And it made her mad. Pissed her off.

Without thinking Amy pulled back her fist and smashed it straight into the mirror in front of her. The glass crunched beneath her knuckles as she repeatedly punched at it.

"Hey babe, you okay in there?" a voice boomed into the bathroom.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Amy lied as she flexed her knuckles and watched intently as beads of blood gushed from her fingers. "I'll be out in a minute okay?"

Amy ran the cold tap over her knuckles and cleaned them up the best she could. They hurt - but in a good way. And maybe that was the kind of distraction she needed for when she was sat next to her 'boyfriend' while simultaneously sitting across from the girl of her dreams.


	11. Diner

"What is taking her so long?" Karma pondered, constantly turning her attention toward the bathroom door. "What have you done to her? Did you try it on with her again?"

Reagan rolled her eyes, hard. Turning her attention her plate. It was obvious that Clementine had ordered for her in her absence and she gave a slight nod of the head in appreciation.

"Are you really going to eat all that?" Jonah asked as he watched Aspen wolfing down her orders.

Aspen speared a small pile of pancakes with her fork. "What does it look like shithead?"

"Ohhh. Feisty." Jonah growled.

"I see you didn't develop a backbone while I was away," Amy remarked dryly taking her seat next to Karma.

"Oh, you're finally back!" Karma clapped.

"Obviously. Hey buddy, why don't you focus your attention on your girlfriend?" Amy demanded as she watched the way Jonah was practically drooling over Aspen.

"Woah, Woah, Woah. Who said anything about me and her being exclusive!?"

Karma shrunk in her seat as everyone at the table paused and turned their attention toward her.

"Wow…" Aspen muttered. "It's a shame I can't just tip all this food into my bag and just leave. You're a _real_ piece of work dude."

"Yeah, thanks for the food" Clementine chimed in. "But you _are_ a bit of a jerk!"

"Don't pile on him! It's my fault for not asking first. We haven't even discussed it." Karma insisted.

Amy shook her head and reached for her fork, cringing as her inured knuckles caused her discomfort.

Reagan frowned, "What happened?" she mouthed gesturing to her own knuckles.

Amy said nothing, shoving her injured hand under the table and out of sight.

"I don't really care for this atmosphere. I'm gonna go sit in a separate booth." Francis declared. "Wanna come with?"

"Yeah. I really do." Clementine confirmed carefully packing up her things and following Francis away from the less than ideal situation at hand.

"And then there were six." Aspen muttered, steadily increasing the pace at which she was eating.

* * *

Reagan watched Aspen in amusement because she seemed to be eating her food without even bothering to chew it. Amy watched both of them in jealousy.

"If you keep eating that fast you're going to make yourself sick. And don't expect me to hold your hair this time because you're truly bringing this on yourself." Reagan warned.

"Yeah I'm doing it on purpose so that you can look after me when I throw my guts up later tonight."

"I literally just told you that I'm not going to do that."

"But you will, because you always do. That's what i like about you. You're too kind for your own good."

"True."

"Why don't you two get a room, and then I'll join you both later." Jonah winked.

"You wish dude." Reagan countered.

"Can't blame a guy for trying."

The table was suddenly shaking with the force of Amy's clenched firsts. "For gods sake Karma! Get a fucking backbone! Say something! _Do_ something!" she seethed through her teeth before storming out of the diner - James following closely behind.

"What the hell is her problem?" Jonah asked.

"Are you joking right now?" Aspen mumbled around a fork full of scrambled egg.

Jonah shook his head, genuinely surprised and oblivious to his actions.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," Karma stammered, her eyes misting from the tears that were quickly forming.

"And then there were three," Reagan sighed.

* * *

Amy closed her eyes, drew a deep breath and braced herself against the wall.

"Babe, you're shaking." James noted upon seeing Amy's trembling fists.

"No, I'm not!" Amy denied. "See." She unfurled her fists and extended her hands palms down.

Her hands trembled noticeably. Amy shoved them behind her back

"Okay well…"

"What's wrong? You were pretty harsh on Karma back there." James asked.

"No I wasn't. I was right. Why is she with that scumbag? Did you see how slimey he was being? He is just so gross. Why can't she stand up for herself? Why can't she just be brave? Why does she feel the need to force herself into such a shitty relationship? I don't get it. It's just so frustrating!"

"Babe...that's a bit...don't you think that's a bit of an overreaction?" James asked tentatively.

"No. In fact I feel as if it was a bit of an under reaction if I'm being honest."

"I thought they were just...you know. Hook up buddies?"

Amy stifled a laugh.

"What?"

"Hook up buddies? Are we still in high school. It's Fuck buddies. They're Fuck buddies."

"Oh. So you _are_ overreacting. If they aren't in a relationship then why do you care so much?" James smirked, pleased that he had caught Amy out.

"Because I-"

The bell on the diner door rung as everyone started filtering out.

"You know what? You're right!" Amy said quickly. "I don't care. Why should I? Let's just go." she decided pulling James along by the hand.

* * *

Reagan was the last out of the cafe and saw the trail end of Amy dragging James down the street and out of sight.

"So!" Jonah clapped. "Party tonight you guys? I'm hosting!"

"Will there be fo-"

"Yes, there will be food. Same as last time." Jonah confirmed.

"Okay. I'm in." Reagan nodded.

"Just what I was hoping you would say! What about the rest of you guys? You in?"

Tears stung Karma's eyes yet again. "Wait. I thought we were spending the rest of this day together!? What happened to that?"

"Changed my mind. Party sounds much cooler." Jonah shrugged.

"Oh...okay yeah. Yeah. You're right. Staying in is boring anyway. We're in college, we should be partying, not wasting time inside!"

"This girl gets it!" Jonah laughed slinging his arm around Karma.

Aspen noticed how Karma's expression changed from disappointment to elation at the slight bit of attention Jonah threw to her. Her heart hurt for Karma because she knew what it was like. It was the reason she and Reagan had started hooking up in the first place, so that she could get over this guy she was seeing. But still, when she thought about it it still stung a little bit. The way he balked when she suggested that they become a couple, the way he would call her any hour of the day and she would go running, they way he ended it by never speaking to her again. The fact they went to the same college made it all the more insulting. It's not as if they were long distance, they see each other practically every single day and yet he acts like they have never met before. So yeah, Aspen could relate to Karma a little. Even if she was admittedly very annoyed by the girl.

"I'm surprised you're coming to the party _Reagan._ After how it ended last time I would have thought you would be keeping your distance. But some people just can't take a hint I guess." Karma snarked.

No scratch that. Aspen hated the girl.


End file.
